26. Chapter 26 #3
I lift my arm, my wrist bending as I motion for him to come.
Zed’s pale eyes flicker between my father and me. He hesitates for a split second, taking in the miracle of my dad standing beside us without an ounce of anger on his face. Then he pushes off his back edge. He glides slowly across the ice toward us and stops by my side.
“This your doing, Mercer?” my dad huffs out, pointing a finger at me.
“No, Coach.” Zed shakes his head once and glances down at me. “It’s all your brilliant daughter. I just pushed a little.”
“Pushed a little,” my dad repeats, shaking his head as he rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t know how the hell you did it…” He pauses and looks at Zed.
“Again, I take no credit,” Zed replies, his eyes cutting sideways to lock onto mine. “This is all Lilly.”
A tiny, reluctant smile tugs at the corner of my dad’s mouth, and then it slowly drops. He looks back and forth between the two of us. My dad lets out a long, quiet sigh that seems to drain the fight out of his body.
“So this is how it is, huh?” my dad says, rubbing a hand down his face. “My goalie with my daughter.”
“Like it or not.” Zed’s jaw sets with certainty. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yeah,” my dad grunts, his shoulders slumping as he sighs again. “I can see that.” He turns his gaze to me. “Does he make you happy, Lilly?”
“I think you already know the answer to that.” I glance up at Zed to find him already looking down at me.
My dad drags both hands down his face this time, groaning under his breath before he looks up at Zed.
“I owe you an apology, Mercer. I should’ve never even thought about throwing that punch.”
“I understand,” Zed says without a single drop of a grudge. “If I’m lucky enough to have a daughter one day, I’d react the exact same way.”
Zed takes a slow glide forward to wrap a hand around my waist.
“Your daughter is my future,” Zed says. “No matter what you say or do, that isn’t changing. But it would be a hell of a lot easier for everyone if you accepted it. Because option two is me kidnapping her.”
My dad stares at him briefly before barking out a sudden, loud laugh that echoes up into the rafters. “You got a way with words, Mercer, that’s for damn sure.”
His laugh dies down, replaced by a deep quiet. He looks at me, his eyes full of love. “If you’re happy, Lilly… as long as he treats you right—”
“Dad,” I interrupt gently, placing my hand on top of Zed’s.
“Zed has been nothing but wonderful to me. He’s shown me again and again what I mean to him.
Yes, he can be a little…” I look up at Zed, who raises a curious brow at me.
“Intense. But if you’re worried about him hurting me in any way, you shouldn’t be. ”
My dad turns his sharpest glare onto Zed, pointing a finger at his chest. “She’s the most important thing in the world to me, Mercer. If I ever—and I mean ever—see a single tear in her eye because of you, if you do anything to hurt her…”
“I wouldn’t even imagine it, Coach,” Zed cuts in.
He sighs, resting his hands on his hips. “Look, I’ll try to accept it. I’m still not thrilled thinking about you two, and I definitely can’t erase what I walked into at Moreal’s from my brain anytime soon. But as long as my girl is happy… I’m happy.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
My dad looks between the two of us for a long moment, shaking his head with a quiet, resigned smile before he steps back.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” he says, waving a hand before he turns.
I turn to Zed, my soul overflowing with so much love it feels completely electric. I reach up to frame his sharp jaw and pull his head down to mine, pressing my lips to his.
Zed’s large hands instantly wrap around my waist as he deepens the kiss.
“Mercer!” My dad’s rough voice startles me.
Zed doesn’t rush. He slowly lifts his head, his eyes holding mine before he turns, keeping his heavy arm firmly anchored around my waist.
My dad looks back at us with a faint, wry smirk. “Why don’t you two come over for dinner tonight?”
Zed looks down at me, his brows furrowing in intrigue, before looking back up at my dad.
“I’d love to,” he says. “Thank you for the invitation.”
My dad gives a single, firm nod, turns on his heel, and finally disappears, leaving us completely alone under the white lights of the arena.
Zed leans down, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear, his voice dropping into a deep rasp that travels to my core.
“I have your daddy’s blessing now,” he repeats the words from the dock, making my teeth sink into my lower lip. “I can do whatever I want to you.”
“Not anything.” My hands come up to rest against his massive chest. “He specifically said not to hurt me.”
“I said anything I want, Lilly. Never hurt you,” he murmurs, trailing the tip of his nose up my neck. “I’m going to worship you. I’m going to haunt you. And I’m going to follow you into every single lifetime I’m lucky enough to get.”
I look up into the face of the man who dragged me out of the dark, who fought his own demons to come out to the light for me, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am home.